At a time when innovative bus shelter designs, including solar-powered and intelligent bus shelters, are in vogue, people in Kerala are in wonderment at the sight of a bus shelter for passengers made of used bicycle 
parts. The bus shelter has a beautiful and unique design as bicycle rims, carriers and pedals are used in its making. The carrier of bicycle is used to provide seat for passengers. The shelter is designed by Sudheer from Pavamkulangara, who is a local artist and designer. Sudheer had designed a bus shelter with empty bottles earlier too.
“There was a bus shelter in the same location earlier, but in a dilapidated condition. People wanted to renovate it. The initial plan was to make a bus shelter in the conventional way using bricks and roofing sheet, which requires some good amount. Anyway, with lot of concrete buildings around, used clay tiles are available. We just need to wash them and use. Hence, we thought of something in a creative way”, said Sudheer.
Echoing what Sudheer has shared, Jithesh Ravindran said the idea was to make the bus shelter in a unique way, depicting progress. Thus, the imagery of wheel came to our mind, which further led to thinking about bicycle and developing the bus shelter using bicycle parts”.
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The model developed by Sudheer flowered as a beautiful bus shelter with the able support of local residents and committed social workers, like Jithesh Ravindran and Dr Raghavan Nair, who devoted almost a month to complete the work. The new shelter has been made at a cost of Rs 40,000.
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic context, the bus shelter is equipped with a sanitizer machine. A small, beautiful garden is also provided for excellent ambiance to help passengers wait for the buses in the best conditions and with utmost ease. The bus shelter is on Ernakulam to Kottayam bus route and is near by the famous Puthiyakavu Temple in Thripunithura. Thripunithura MLA M. Swaraj inaugurated the shelter on 1 November, Kerala Piravi Day (Birth of State of Kerala).
